I Got Her A Ring
by illhaveapepperonytogoplease
Summary: AU version of how the world got news of the news of a Pepperony engagement.


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, believe me-if I did-I'd be chilling in the Caymans right now and not writing fanfiction.

* * *

Pepper watches Tony on the monitor as he talks to Ellen and feels nothing but relief; so far, he hasn't said anything that would result in a formally issued apology from Stark Industries.

No crazy statements, no brash insults, no vulgar comments, no offensive remarks-he's being exceptionally good.

"And now you're in love, Tony, if that's okay to expose that to the world," Ellen says, her voice changing as she switches the conversation from Iron Man's philanthropy to Tony's personal life.

"Yeah," he answers, adjusting slightly in his chair, motioning his thumb to somewhere off camera. "She's sitting backstage right now, probably wishing she could filter through everything I'm saying."

The audience laughs a little and Ellen begins, "Now, it's very well-known that you're dating the CEO of Stark Industries, the same woman who was your personal assistant for years-was it hard to overcome or, well, _not_ be hounded with the-because you must get them-degrading remarks about inappropriate office behavior and how she really got the position?"

Pepper holds her breath, knowing-just _knowing_-he's going to say something horribly inappropriate or rude and Happy laughs from where he's sitting by her on the couch-even _he_ recognizes that the question recipe for disaster. It's one of Tony's pet peeves that people assumed he'd only ever given her the company to run because they were dating.

"First of all, we're co-CEOs-I'd like to point that out-and also that I only made her my co-CEO when I was dying, and I wasn't really sure who should take over Stark Industries, and then I realized there's this wonderful woman who's been by my side for years practically _already_ running the company long before we ever slept together, so I might as well make her my successor," he says, his hand out in assurance and Ellen nods as the audience listens intently. "And of course, I-well, it's harder for her, I think-well, no, I know it's harder for because she's a woman and people like to shit on any successful woman because there's just _no_ way a woman can make it anywhere without spreading her legs, right?" He asks sarcastically, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and Pepper rubs her temple; there were definitely some more professional ways to word that. "When we started dating, which was all my idea, by the way-I asked her, like, _at least_ twenty times before she actually gave in, I think I was a few tries away from her getting a restraining order against me and just saying yes would be less of a hassle-she told me she wanted to step down as CEO and work somewhere else and that's when I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I trusted her to run the company for me."

"That's really great, Tony," Ellen smiles, before turning slightly to see the screens in the studio. "And you're both doing okay now?"

"We're fantastic," he says, sounding like he means every bit of it, and Pepper watches as he fiddles with the sleeve of his dress shirt, noticing with a slight sigh that he's unbuttoned his cuff links. It's genuinely like trying to get a five year old to dress up.

"Now, we have a picture of you and your girlfriend, Pepper-"

A photo of them together at a press conference held shortly after the fiasco with Killian and the Mandarin appears and Tony smiles gleefully as he says, "Hi honey-" he looks mischievously at Ellen, before looking back at their picture "-that's _Pepper_."

"So-oh, you've gone all kind of...gooey," Ellen says endearingly, because Tony's wearing a soft expression, his head tilted slightly as he looks at them.

Without missing a beat, he informs affectionately, "We were just screwing two hours ago."

_There it is_.

The audience and Ellen laugh and Happy quirks an eyebrow at Pepper, a blush rising up the back of her neck because he'd berated them for being late and now he-and anyone watching this damn interview-knows exactly why. She can't help the smile, however, that spreads across her face as she watches Tony realize what he's said and lift his shirt up slightly, hiding his face like an embarrassed child would as the audience's laughter turns into applause.

"You're still on me, honey," he grins at the camera cheekily, knowing she's watching every move he makes as he absentmindedly tugs at the collar of his shirt and adds, "I can smell you."

_Oh my God_.

Happy laughs at that one, the audience doing the same as Tony bites his bottom lip and Pepper is absolutely mortified-the man has absolutely no impulse control and that's not ideal when appearing on a daytime talk show. He didn't seem to realize-or care-that his lack of professionalism could send the stocks plummeting.

"You've done a lot of things in your life, Tony," Ellen begins, a disbelieving look on her face, clearly having no idea how to handle the situation without comedy. "But did you ever get applause for screwing?"

Tony laughs, rubbing a hand down the side of his face and Pepper can see the realization that he is in _deep shit_ when he comes off camera, but he doesn't seem to care as he says, "No, last time it was just-never mind-no, this is a lot more fun."

"So, look-is it-I know it's embarrassing when people ask this question, but could it go marriage wise? Could this be…?" She leaves the question open and Pepper holds her breath, unsure of how he'll answer.

"Yeah," he answers nonchalantly.

"It _could_ go marriage wise?" Ellen asks, sounding more than a little shocked at the downright flippancy he has with the topic.

"Uh-huh," he rubs his jaw. "Yeah, I got her a ring for her birthday-it's an engagement ring-and then it's not sized right, so right now it's on her middle finger."

_You're a dead man, Anthony_.

Happy looks over at her in surprise, seeing the ring in question resting on her left middle finger right at this moment, and she gives him an apologetic look, motioning for him to just not say anything at the moment; she needs to figure out how to handle this with the press, wondering what other bombshells Tony's going to drop.

"Right…" Ellen says, unsure if she's interpreting what Tony's saying correctly.

"Yeah."

"So does that mean you're engaged, then?" She clarifies, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, we're engaged," he says, pressing his lips together in a 'well, that's _that_' look as he taps his fingers on the arm of the chair he's sitting in. Again, the audience begins a resounding applause and he realizes-once again-that he's said too much and he covers his mouth with his hand. "Look how you got me-now, maybe I wasn't supposed to say that and now she's like 'Oh _God_, why does he have to do everything on TV and blah blah blah, is nothing private?' No. Nothing's private, I'm sorry, except _exactly_ what occurred three hours or so ago."

If it wouldn't ruin the will and prenup that were in the legal process of leaving his fortune to her, she might've just gone out on live TV and murdered her fiancé.

—-

"Hey honey," he grins apologetically when he greets her backstage, hands already up in surrender as she comes into sight.

"Anthony _Edward_ Stark, I swear to-"

"I would just like to remind you that Ellen puts cameras in all these rooms so killing me right now would now not be your best idea." He motions towards the cameras in the sitting room as he enters, giving her a once over. "Have I mentioned that you look great today, by the way?"

It's true; her long legs are shown off in a dark blue skirt, white heels, and her white blouse with thin, light blue pinstripes is opened low enough that he can see she's wearing a necklace with a ruby pendant that he bought her for Christmas-her outfit was half the reason he'd insisted on lunch break sex. Her hair's in a swoopy little updo-a quick fix to the sweaty, mused up, unbrushed mess it'd been in earlier-with a few red curls loose to frame her face but the expression she's wearing is less than amused and it makes him keep his distance.

"Yes, shortly before talking about our sex life and announcing our engagement on national television, Tony, this-"

"What's the big deal?" He asks, wondering if it's safe to approach her before deciding against it-she has a pen in her hand that's about two wrong words away from being in his jugular.

"What's the-you just-_we were screwing two hours ago_? _Really_?! That is quite possibly the-"

"Okay, so it could've been worded better," he concedes, sitting on the couch in the room. "It made them laugh, Pepper, for all they know I could've been lying." She pinches the bridge of her nose for a moment, irritably mumbling something he can't hear. "What's that, sweetie?"

"I _said_ we should get you a shock collar, so I don't have to worry about your lack of filter," she bites, her cheeks flushed with frustration and a part of him wonders if he only messed up interviews so he could see her like this-Pepper wore exasperation well, and he happened to think she was the cutest, sexiest thing in the world when he pissed her off.

"Kinky," he approves, nodding slightly as she takes a threatening step towards him.

"_Tony_-"

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone about it," he assures with a dirty wink, grabbing her by around her waist and pulling her closer to the couch.

"There're cameras in here," she reminds sternly as his fingers play with the hem of her skirt while she stands next to where he's sitting. "Don't do anything stupid."

"What I'm thinking of isn't _stupid_," he scoffs as the mental image of Pepper with that nice, proper skirt bunched up around her waist as she's bent over one of the arms of the couch gets stuck in his head.

"Don't do anything _inappropriate_," she rephrases pointedly.

"Inappropriate? Me?" Tony grins, tugging at her skirt like a needy child until she leans down and gives him a kiss, murmuring, "_Never_."

She pulls back and just stares at him for a moment before saying, somewhat tiredly, "I can't believe you just announced our engagement to _Ellen Degeneres_."

"Yeah," he drawls, kissing her again, tasting pink lemonade on her tongue, wondering where she ever got any-the woman never drank anything but water. "Sorry about that."

"You're not though, are you?" She asks, pulling out of his grasp when they hear people coming down the hallway.

"Well now you don't have to do some cheesy Instagram post or whatever you were gonna do," he defends, looking at Happy when he walks in. "So what's the verdict, boss? People happy that I'm getting hitched or should I leave her at the altar?"

Happy looks between the two for a moment before saying, "It's looking good."

"Good," Tony nods, glancing down at the engagement ring Pepper's wearing. It's sized perfectly for her middle finger because-as a man who knew nothing about rings-he'd taken a random ring from her jewelry collection to the jewelers to compare size for when they put the diamond on the band, not knowing the ring he'd taken was made for her middle finger.

"Media's already all over it," Happy says, holding up his phone to an article that had already managed to be published. "They're happy for you."

"Told you, honey, it'll be okay."

"The screwing comment is not going to be overlooked by the board, Tony," she says, tucking a curl behind her ear. "Or the part about business women _spreading their legs_ to get places-seriously, you couldn't think of _anything_ better?"

"Hey, I thought that was bold and feminist of me," he says, laying down on the couch, absentmindedly wondering what brand it is because it's really comfortable.

"Oh yeah, Tony Stark: Feminist with an Iron Fist," Pepper agrees snarkily, not even looking at him as she texts someone on her phone.

"I was being aloof and sarcastic, managing to make my point serious through satire."

"Yeah, Tony," she sighs typing away at her keyboard. "That's the problem."

"Who's that?" He asks, head tilted towards the device in her hands.

"Some members of the board," she answers distractedly.

"And? What're they saying? I don't see what's so bad about it-in all honesty, I think it's a show of how madly in love with you I am that I couldn't keep it a secret-"

"They say you're not allowed to do any more live interviews," she cuts him off, but he catches the way her cheeks barely turn pink with his comment.

_Don't ever change, Potts_.

"But I can do them again once I die?" He asks seriously and she ignores him.

"They're happier than I thought they'd be about the engagement-and they congratulate us-they think it's showing stability and character and all that, but your other comments are making you look…" She tilts her head slightly, chewing her bottom lip as if not sure how to phrase it.

"Ravishing? Lucky? Like a man who just had his _smoking hot_ girl for lunch and wants the whole world to know?"

Happy nearly chokes on his water and Pepper manages to get over her embarrassment to pat his back as he coughs.

"I'm leaving-gonna get the car," he manages to get out before exiting, still hacking and wheezing like someone with a severe illness.

"Tony, stop-"

"Everyone knows we have sex, Pepper, we've dated for how long?" He raises an eyebrow because they never really ever officially said 'okay and now this is a relationship'-they'd gone from the kiss on the roof to more kisses to unbelievably good sex to moving in together to him proposing-they didn't have a day that started it all, necessarily. Not even an official first date because they'd had plenty of dinners together prior to the rooftop kiss and after the rooftop kiss so they sort of called the Rooftop Kiss Day their anniversary because it'd pushed them over the edge but they'd never sat down and talked about it because in all honesty, they were a couple long before they even realized it. "A while? I'm no virgin and it'd be a crying shame if you were so-"

"Assumptions and confirmation are two vastly different things."

"All I said was-"

"I _know_ what you said, Tony, it wasn't too...eloquent."

"Well, what you were doing to me a few hours ago wasn't too _eloquent_, either," he says, giving her a little smug, knowing grin as the memory of her mouth wrapped around him flashes through his mind.

"That's-" her cheeks turn bright red and she snaps her mouth shut, her sudden bashfulness quite endearing. Hard to believe it's the same woman who sucked him off like a pro just a few hours prior.

"If I apologize and admit that I'm wrong, do I get the well-behaved boyfriend sex benefits?" He asks hopefully, sitting up from the couch a bit.

"I don't know, are you going to talk about it to whoever you're meeting tomorrow?" She asks wryly, checking her thin silver watch. "We need to leave soon."

"How soon is 'soon'?"

"Too soon for any mischief." She looks at him disapprovingly when he pouts. "You're not getting off the hook for this one, Tony, I hadn't told-Happy and James _at least_ should've known before the world did."

"They knew," he scoffs, catching the surprise on her face. "I told both of them I was gonna do it, they just didn't know when."

"You did?" Her voice is soft now, gentler, like she can't believe he'd talk to others about their relationship.

"Yeah, I-God, Pep," he laughs, standing up off the couch, wrapping one arm around her waist as he pulls her close and kisses her forehead, thinking back to the countless conversations he'd had with Happy and Rhodey. Happy hadn't stopped mentioning marriage since they started dating-"if Pepper's crazy enough to date you, _marry_ her"-and Rhodey had talked him down-"man up, realize you love each other and get on one knee"-the two times Tony had almost proposed and then chickened out. "You think I'd have the balls to do that without some encouragement?"

"You thought I'd say no?" She asks, incredulous, looking at him like he's grown a second head.

"I didn't know what'd you do," he answers honestly, kissing her, holding her in his arms securely. "You know, Happy's been telling me to marry you since Afghanistan."

"Well, I might've said no _then_," she teases, holding his face for a long moment as she runs her thumb along his bottom lip, probably wiping off her lip gloss. Her eyebrows furrow while she focuses on his mouth, eyelashes fluttering slightly, lips parted in concentration as she gets off the shiny, sweet tasting glossy cover.

It's all for nothing, of course, because he kisses her again once her eyes meet his.

"You're a bastard, you know that?" She asks affectionately, brushing back his hair with one hand, keeping the other on his cheek.

"I love you, too," he grins, kissing her gently, knowing that's what she _meant_ to say by insulting him.

Pepper hums, patting the side of his face before someone opens the door and her hand immediately falls to her side, putting a professional amount of space between them.

"Miss Potts? Mr. Stark?" A young assistant-Tony's not sure if she belongs to Stark Industries or Ellen-asks, looking in cautiously. "Your car is waiting. There's-" she pauses nervously, as if she doesn't want to say anything further. "The paparazzi are already here."

Tony takes Pepper's hand, squeezing it reassuringly, because he knows she hates being in the spotlight-hates the news' constant coverage of them-the way TMZ and ET scrutinize every look and touch they share-the way half of America seems to think they had a place in their relationship-and knowing she _especially_ hates being photographed by paparazzi.

"After you, Mrs. Stark," he grins, kissing her temple comfortingly.

"I'm not changing my name," she says, that slight smile on her lips telling him otherwise-he knows damn well that she'll be changing her name. "We've been over this."

"Yeah you are, you love me too much," he responds smugly as she leaves-therefore _he_, because their hands are still connected-the room, following the assistant down a series of hallways.

"That's what you think?" She gives him a smile that's nearly enough to knock him off his feet. "This is actually a giant set up, I'm an undercover spy working for-"

"Bull shit," he laughs, tugging her into him, resting a protective hand on her hip as they stop by the door, seeing a crowd of unsettled, rowdy photographers waiting on the other side.

"Thank you," Pepper says politely to the assistant, who has one hand on the door and is waiting for some kind of go ahead to unleash the flashing hell on them.

"You're welcome," she smiles, a cute smile that reminds Tony of a little girl-she hardly looks a day over twenty-before she adds, "And-um-congratulations, on the engagement."

"Thanks," Tony says earnestly, a flash of pride shooting through him because he's _getting married to Pepper fucking Potts_, moving his arm around his fiancée's shoulders, nodding at the assistant before meeting Pepper's eyes. "Ten feet and we're in the car, baby."

The door opens and Happy is immediately in front of them, pushing through the crowd of flashes and questions and shouts, and Tony tightens his hold on Pepper when he feels her tense up as people bombard them with congratulations and wedding talk. She keeps her head down, shielding her eyes, showing off the ring and Tony isn't sure if she purposefully did it or not, but it'd keep the media off their asses about seeing the ring and it's genius-so she probably had thought ahead, through her fear and hatred of the press, and planned this.

Happy shoves a few reporters-he has a reputation for roughing up the paps-out of the way as he opens the car door and Tony watches her go in, her ass looking _great_ in that sexy little outfit, and he closes the door, giving the photographers around him a stern look as he walks around the back of the car to get in on his side.

He can see Pepper's silhouette through the tinted windows, the slight tilt of her head and outline of her arm letting him know she's rubbing her forehead-she really hates the flashing lights-and he grins, knowing what he's going to do before the rational side of brain fully catches up-it'd get the media off their ass about the engagement for maybe a week and that's all he thinks of.

"Hey honey," he begins, loud enough that the reporters can hear him when he opens the door, looking at her sitting and already buckled, knowing he's about to get in _big_ trouble but he doesn't care-it'll screw up the tabloids for a bit-feeding them lies directly from the source is a great feeling-to fuck with them while they're invading every aspect of privacy whatsoever. She gives him an odd look and he smiles wide, like how he imagines a father-to-be would, and asks, "When's our next ultrasound?"

Tony shuts the door and he's not sure what explodes faster-the excited mob outside or the very-much-so _not_ pregnant woman next to him.

* * *

This is based off the RDJ interview where he announce his engagement by accident bc honestly it feels like something Tony would do lol. If you don't know what I'm talking about here: watch?v=yndMlAJsJtw Also I realize that Ellen show tapings are prerecorded but pretend they aren't and he had a live interview. Hope you enjoyed, have a glorious day :)


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